Bullies
by Emma and her Pet Unicorn
Summary: "Uncle Jamie, did you like school?" Sean asked. Jamie stared at his spoon as he felt the expectant eyes of everyone else at the table turn to him. (Just a small random one-shot I thought of an hour ago. It's not my best work, so beware!)
The dinner table was quiet except for the clatter of forks and knives against the plates and quick exchanges of, "Pass the potatoes?" and "The service was nice."

Danny seemed to be in a good mood. He'd recently put a man behind bars who'd always slipped by authorities on abuse charges. He would beat his wife to a pulp, then drive her to different hospitals. He slipped up when he went to St. Victor's and a nurse recognized him, called a hotline, and then contacted the police.

"You look happy, dad." Sean commented.

Danny looked up, his mouth full. He offered a smile at his youngest son. He swallowed quickly and responded, "I am. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Erin questioned, sipping her wine.

Danny let out a sigh. Linda nudged him from under the table and gave him the stay nice, play nice look. "Baez is insisting we investigate this suicide. It was yesterday and she won't leave it alone."

"You must be rubbing off on her, then." Jamie said under his breath.

"What's that, uncle Jamie?" Nicki glanced at him.

He hid a smile behind his napkin, wiping his mouth. "Nothing."

Danny didn't fall for it, and glared at him from his spot at the table. "Anyway. It's just getting a little excessive. She's convinced that the suicide was cause by something we can press charges against."

"Was it that teenager I heard about all the way in my office?" Frank finally asked. As police commissioner, it was only normal that he hear about those particular cases. The press was always eager for more information, for fish hooks to bite. They were more or less piranhas, though, if he was honest with himself.

"Yeah."

The silence that followed was heavy. Jamie kept his eyes on his near empty plate, mindlessly scraping some food to the centre and into a clump. Nicki was the one to break the silence, with her, as usual, smart tone.

"It's not uncommon. Teenage suicides can be induced by several things. It sucks." Her mother glanced at her.

The two boys were shifting restlessly as everyone else continued to eat. "Grandpa," Jack blurted.

Frank looked up at his youngest nephew. He subconsciously reached over for his filled wine glass and prepared to drink from it.

"Yes, Sean?"

"Why would a teenager kill themselves?" No one missed Sean's wary sided look that he shot at his older brother, who was emerged in eating his rice, shovelling it into his mouth.

Frank coughed hesitantly, looking for someone else to answer the curious, but natural, inquiry. Linda did it for him. "Well, Sean, sometimes they can be unhappy with their lives. They feel better by hurting themselves, they feel horrible inside or outside. Like...if they're being bullied at school. That's why you tell someone, an adult, if something is wrong, so you can get help."

"Dad, you liked school, right?" Jack asked, turning his head to Danny.

Jamie began to subconsciously take more potatoes, scooping spoonfuls and plopping them onto his plate. He stared at the table as Danny began to recount one of his usual stories about being at the top of the food chain.

"Your dad," Erin coughed into her hand, "Was a bit of a jerk sometimes. I couldn't go on a date without being followed."

Both Henry and Frank hid behind their napkins at that part, avoiding eye contact.

"What about you, Uncle Jamie? Did you like school?" Sean asked.

Jamie trained his eyes on his spoon and used it to spread the mashed potatoes over his plate. He didn't answer right away.

All eyes had turned to him, expectantly waiting for an answer. "Your uncle Jamie liked school." Erin said, sounding very uncertain, especially when Jamie visibly tried to shrink into his chair.

"I guess." Jamie said. I guess not is more like it.

"You guess?" Danny said, laying his fork on the table and narrowing his eyes at his younger brother suspiciously.

"Daniel, stop treating him like one of your suspects." their grandfather chastised Danny.

"Well, grandpa, if he wasn't hiding anything I wouldn't have to." Danny said under his breath.

"I'm not hiding anything, Danny." Jamie frowned, hearing it loud and clear despite the lame efforts Danny had made to over his words up.

"So, did you like school?" Danny repeated for his brother, quite forcefully. He could tell Jamie wasn't into telling him the truth, even if the truth may not be a big deal.

Before Jamie could return the question with a snappy comeback, Frank interrupted, "Jack, Nicki, Sean-" he gave Nicki an especially pointed glance. "Maybe you guys should go and watch some television."

As they left, gathering up the plates around the table with Linda and Henry's help, and the two adults went into the kitchen, Jamie groaned. He had a feeling this was about to become one of those big family discussions he had with his father and siblings, like when he informed them of his decision to attend the Academy five, six years ago.

"Jamie, I don't think you're being all that open about this." Erin said, sounding like she was trying to be gentle and not too eager.

Jamie cut his eyes at her, and then at the others. "Are you kidding me? Dad," he looked at his father with a bewildered expression on his face. "This has to be a joke. Just because I didn't like school?"

Danny pumped his fist triumphantly and took a large gulp of his wine. "I knew it! So you admit-"

"No, I just mean that we don't have to turn this into one of these things." Jamie groaned again.

"What things?" Erin asked.

"You know, when you all gang up to find something out for yourselves. It's not even important."

"Jamie, it sounds to me like you're reluctant to talk about something, which is easily something I would be curious about." Frank said in his usual warm, yet stern, voice.

"Yeah, well," he pushed back in his chair, shaking his head with annoyance and grabbing his glass as he stood. "It feels like I'm in the damn hot seat."

And he left the dining room.

Jamie was sitting on the couch, lazily spread out across it. The TV was on low volume, and he and his older brother were the only ones in the living room, sipping beer and occasionally making awkward conversation. It seemed like the school subject was an unreasonable elephant in the room.

"Jacob Vasinski." Jamie said, breaking the silence.

Danny looked at him. "What?"

"Jacob Vasinski. He bugged me every day for years. That's why Joe would walk to the bus with me until I was fourteen."

"So one guy ruined everything for you? Jamie, you were the damn golden boy-" He stopped.

Jamie raised his eyebrows.

"Oh. So, good grades didn't sit well with the older kids or something?"

"Not always. I went through a lot of shit situations though."

"You never got into fights, at least." Danny smirked. He, during his high school time especially, got in plenty of physical brawls at school, outside, even with his own buddies.

"A few times, actually." Jamie frowned at the memory.

"So, wait. Joe was right when he said that your so-called sports bruises weren't from sports?" Danny fidgeted in his seat.

"Yeah. Got into it with the captain of the basketball team after I talked to his ex girlfriend."

"Well that pretty face of yours always did attract unwanted attention, didn't it?" Danny joked. But his voice was layered with guilt from the seams.

Jamie sat up, turning to glance at his older brother, who was watching the game but probably thinking about something else. "Danny, it's not your fault I never told you guys. Even dad asked a few times. I remember Erin going all lawyer-y on me when I got that black eye in the sixth grade. I just didn't want to tell you guys."

"I just don't get how I didn't notice it for myself. When I started dating Linda, she must've known, because she kept trying to get me to ask you about the way you were acting."

"It was probably out of pride. You and Joe and Erin were all closer in age and had been in school together. And I didn't want my big cop brothers to take care of my problems for me."

"But..."

"You don't have to apologize."


End file.
